


Wolf's Bane

by MaliceManaged



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Divergence - Thor: The Dark World, Custody Battle, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, False Identity, Hiding in Plain Sight, Parent Loki, Protective Loki, Shapeshifter Loki, Shapeshifting, magick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-24 06:57:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7498566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaliceManaged/pseuds/MaliceManaged
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fighting custody battles and hiding from an angry brother is not how Loki planned to spend his time after his escape from Asgard. Then again; when had anything gone according to plan lately?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Will someone please tell my brain to stop coming up with new stories before I finish the other ones?
> 
> First chapter'll be up in a bit after I proof read it.

    Loki Laufeyson had died on Svartalfheim.

 

    Everyone knew it. Thor and his midgardian lover had witnessed it themselves.

 

    But just because everyone knows something, doesn’t mean it’s true...

 

    He’d considered going back to Asgard after Thor had so _graciously_ left him there on that barren wasteland of a realm (he supposed he should be happy there wasn’t enough time to bury him), but in the end decided it simply wasn’t worth it. Maybe he’d return after Odin finally deigned to _die;_ surprise his brother and cause a little chaos while he was at it, for old time’s sake. At the time, though, there was nothing for him in the Realm Eternal, and so Loki did the next best thing to actually planning anything:

 

    He ripped open a portal in the fabric of Yggdrasil leading anywhere and stepped through it.


	2. Chapter 1

    The alarm clock was blaring. Loki rolled over and, burying his face in the pillow, tried to ignore it.

 

    The alarm clock won.

 

    With a frustrated groan, Loki rolled onto his back and reached out to shut the godsforsaken noise _off,_ his hand missing the bedside table by mere inches. He let out a puff of breath, blowing a few locks of his hair off his face in the process, and opened his eyes to direct a seething glare at the offending object. It continued its racquet, blissfully unaware of the discontent it was creating. Loki was considering setting the blasted thing on fire when the door to his bedroom was thrown open, a blur of long black hair and forest green fabric rushing its way to the bed and pouncing upon it, and Loki’s stomach, eagerly.

 

    “Morning, daddy; it’s time to wake up!” The six-year-old girl declared happily over her parent’s pained groan.

 

    Loki raised his head slightly and looked at the girl before letting it fall back onto the pillow with a resigned sigh. “Yes, Elin; I suppose it is,” He replied; he sat up and looked down at his daughter’s big hazel eyes, smiling and wrapping his arms around her, before pressing a kiss to her forehead, “Good morning, pet.”

 

    “Manda made breakfast and told me to come get you,” Elin said.

 

    Loki hummed slightly. “Well, I suppose we shouldn’t keep her waiting,” He replied.

 

    He stood and placed Elin on her feet, turning to the alarm clock and turning it off before returning his attention to his daughter; the girl wasted no time in grabbing hold of his hand and leading him out of the room, across the hall and down the stairs to the kitchen. They walked in just as Manda finished placing the last plate of eggs and bacon on the table. Elin let go of Loki’s hand and ran to the table, climbing up onto her chair nimbly, while Loki walked up behind Manda and wrapped his arms around her waist, nudging her white hair out of the way with his nose to place a kiss on her neck.

 

    “I hope you realise you’re going to pay for that little stunt with the alarm, love,” Loki murmured into Manda’s ear.

 

    “You should be thanking me; Elin was going pounce on you regardless,” Manda murmured back, placing a hand on Loki’s arm and raising the other one to the back of Loki’s neck, “At least you had warning this time.”

 

    Loki breathed a laugh then stepped back enough to turn Manda around and leaned down to peck her lips before walking around her to sit down.

 

    It had been ten years since Loki’s supposed death. The portal he had opened on Svartalfheim had led him, irony of ironies, to Jötunheim; he’d considered leaving immediately, but hadn’t really the energy to do so, and so stayed in his birthrealm for close to a week while he recovered from both the wound on his chest and his seidr-driven exhaustion. After that, he put a slight bit more thought to his destination and ended up on Alfheim’s cold regions; there, he stayed for a year, living a while away from a small elven village.

 

    When he’d grown bored of that, he travelled again, going to Nidavellir and Vanaheim to collect on a few debts before ending up on Midgard. He hadn’t expected to have Elin, conceived in a barely-remembered a night of careless drinking on the anniversary of Frigga’s death, but the moment the little crying bundle was in his arms he simply couldn’t bring himself to regret it. Parenting came surprisingly easy to him, though there certainly were times when he understood every moment that his mother had ever lost her patience with him and Thor; Elin was a force of nature and sometimes it was all he could do to try and keep up.

 

    He had met Manda when Elin was four; they had been out at the park and Loki had lost sight of Elin in the time it took him to find the juice box the girl had asked for. Loki had been looking for her for close to five frantic minutes before he found her standing before a kneeling Manda, who was speaking to the crying girl in soothing tones. When he’d rushed over to them, Manda’s head snapped up to him and she quickly moved to crouch before Elin protectively, only moving when the girl saw him and called him ‘daddy’. He’d offered to buy her lunch to thank her for both finding Elin and being so quick to jump to her defence until she was sure of who he was, and ended up marrying her a year and a half later.

 

    After they’d finished eating Manda quickly declared it was Loki’s turn to do the dishes then fled upstairs before he could protest, and Elin declared she would ‘help him’, which really only meant that their task devolved into a water fight halfway through. Once _that_ mess had been cleaned up, Loki scooped Elin up and took her to the living room, where he deposited her on the couch and gave her a book to read; with strict instructions to stay put, Loki left her and went upstairs to find Manda.

 

    “Did you really think that distraction was going to work?” Loki asked as he stepped into their bedroom.

 

    “I’m sure I have no idea what you mean,” Manda replied innocently; her eyes, a vivid green a touch darker than Loki’s, glinting playfully.

 

    “Lying to the God of Lies,” Loki tutted disapprovingly, “Not very wise.”

 

    “A girl has to try,” Manda replied with a shrug.

 

    “You know what has to happen now...” Loki said lowly, stalking towards her.

 

    Manda grinned then at the last moment as he reached her dodged past him and ran towards the door. Loki caught her with an arm around her middle and lifted her easily, earning a slight shriek; he closed and locked the door with a wave of his hand then walked to the bed and carefully tossed Manda onto it. She looked up at him as he moved to loom over her, his hands on either side of her head, biting her bottom lip.

 

    “I don’t suppose you’ll accept an... _apology?”_ Manda asked coyly, her hands slipping under his shirt and trailing up his sides.

 

    “It would have to be a very good one,” Loki replied.

 

    Manda smirked then wrapped one leg around his waist, knocked one of Loki’s arms out and rolled them over, earning a surprised grunt. She straddled him, placing her hands on either side of his head, then leaned down to kiss him deeply, taking her time to thoroughly plunder his mouth. When they finally parted he looked up at her slightly dazed and she grinned proudly. “I think I can manage that...” She said before leaning down again.


	3. Chapter 2

    Getting out of bed again took a tremendous amount of effort; Loki only managed it because Elin had yelled up from the living room to ask if she could move now because she had finished the book and was bored, and so he reluctantly stood and made his way to the bathroom after calling down to his daughter that she could leave the couch. Manda joined him in the shower a few minutes later looking immensely pleased with herself, and he resisted the urge to wipe the smug smile off her face, else nothing would get done that day. He did resolve to get even that night, though.

 

    Once clean and dressed they headed downstairs again, Loki going into his study to finish the work he’d been putting off most of the weekend and Manda taking Elin to the backyard to check on the latter’s garden; she’d been adamant about wanting to grow flowers, and Manda had caved in and agreed to help her in less than an hour, something Loki had yet to cease teasing her with. Not that he was much better at denying the girl, as evidenced by her seemingly endless supply of dresses and hats, which she had a particular liking for.

 

    There was simply no resisting her pleading look.

 

    As they busied themselves clearing away the few weeds that were beginning to grow around the many coloured pansies, Manda got the distinct feeling that they were being watched and looked up and around. The backyard was surrounded by a rather tall fence, and she could see nothing amiss from there, but her senses told her differently and she always trusted them. She tucked her hair behind her ears and listened closely for anything out of the ordinary; soon enough she heard a slight creaking of wood coming from a spot of the fence on the far end of the yard and stood.

 

    “Elin; stay here,” She told the girl, who’d looked up at her sudden rising.

 

    “Okay,” Elin replied, turning back to her flowers.

 

    Manda quickly made her way to the gate on the side of the yard and went to where she’d heard the sound coming from, getting there just as a middle-aged looking woman with greying blonde hair tied up in a bun was walking away.

 

    “Hey!” Manda called after her, and the woman stopped and turned around, “Can I _help_ you?”

 

    “I doubt it,” The woman replied, “Unless you know a Laurel Silver.”

 

    Manda crossed her arms at her chest. “Who’s looking?” She asked a bit defensively.

 

    “So this _is_ her house, then?” The woman asked instead, “And that’s her daughter you were with?”

 

    “Who’s asking?” Manda asked a bit more sharply.

 

    “My name is Jillian; I’m the girl’s grandmother,” The woman replied then narrowed her eyes slightly at Manda, “Who are _you?”_

 

    “Manda; I’m the girl’s stepmother,” Manda replied pointedly.

 

    Jillian scoffed. “Well; _that_ explains a few things,” She said with a hint of disgust.

 

    “What do you want?” Manda asked coolly.

 

    “I want to meet my granddaughter, for one,” Jillian replied.

 

    “You’d have to talk to Laurel for that,” Manda said, “Not my decision to make.”

 

    “Fine, then; is she home?” Jillian asked none too kindly.

 

    “No,” Manda replied, matching her tone.

 

    “Then I’ll come back tomorrow,” Jillian said.

 

    “You’ll leave a number, and Laurel will call you when it’s convenient,” Manda said firmly.

 

    Jillian bristled slightly, pursing her lips. “Fine,” She conceded finally, pulling up her purse and taking out a business card. She walked over to Manda and held out the card a good distance away, apparently not wanting to get any closer. “My office number,” She informed, “She can leave a message with my secretary if I’m not there to answer.”

 

    Manda made a point of coming closer as she took the card, smiling with sweet venom at the other woman’s clear discomfort. “I’ll let her know,” She said with feigned pleasantness.

 

    Jillian nodded once then all but scurried away, and Manda returned to the yard, making double sure the gate was locked before heading to the house, telling Elin she’d be right back. She made her way to Loki’s study and knocked on the door; hearing his vague acknowledgement, she opened the door and walked inside. She found him at his desk, eyes narrowed slightly in concentration as he typed away on the computer, glancing occasionally to the papers fanned out besides the keyboard, and cleared her throat slightly.

 

    “A moment,” He said absently, not looking up at her. Manda walked over and stood before the desk, waiting patiently for him to finish what he was doing. After a minute he stopped typing and looked up at her, noticing the slight tension on her shoulders immediately. “What’s wrong?” He asked with a slight frown.

 

    “Someone was out back, watching me and Elin,” Manda replied.

 

    “Who?” Loki asked, an edge to his tone.

 

    If there was one thing that Loki was, it was protective of his family. Manda had learned that very early on; it was one of the things that most drew her to him when they’d started dating.

 

    “She said she was Elin’s grandmother,” Manda replied.

 

    “Blonde woman by the name of Jillian?” Loki asked.

 

    “That’s her,” Manda replied with a nod then held out the business card to him, “I told her to leave and she left this, said to leave a message with her secretary if she wasn’t there to take the call. She says she wants to meet Elin.”

 

    Loki’s jaw clenched slightly. “Six years, and _now_ she cares?” He said as he took the card.

 

    “Guess so,” Manda replied, “What are you going to do?”

 

    Loki stared at the card for a moment. “I’m not sure,” He replied, “I’d need to know what she _really_ wants first; because it sure as Hel is not to be a caring grandmother.”

 

    “You’re going to call her, then?”

 

    Loki nodded and placed the card down on a corner of the desk. “Not today, but I will,” He replied before turning back to the computer screen, “Too much work.”

 

    “Let me know what I can do,” Manda said, earning an acknowledging hum in response. She rolled her eyes with a fond smile and walked around the desk, leaning down to kiss Loki’s temple, earning a faint smile. She then turned and left the office, closing the door behind her, and headed back to the yard and Elin.


End file.
